CHLC-FM (FM 97.1), Baie Comeau

, Radio Port Cartier

1962Radio Côte-Nord Inc. was licensed to operate an AM station at Hauterive, and CHLC signed on the air on September 15.

1965At this time, CHLC was operating on a frequency of 580 kHz with a power of 5,000 watts day and 2,500 watts at night. J. Claude Tremblay was president of Radio Côte-Nord Inc. and Henri Desjardins was CHLC's manager.

1976
Radio Côte-Nord Inc. received a licence to operate a rebroadcaster of CHLC at Forestville. It would operate on a frequency of 620 kHz and have a full-time power of 1,000 watts.

1977
Rebroadcaster CFRP Forestville signed on the air.

1980
CHLC and CFRP were given approval to affiliate with the Radiomutuel network.

1984On March 6, the CRTC renewed the broadcasting licence for CHLC Baie-Comeau and its rebroadcaster CFRP Forestville to September 30, 1989.

1985
On November 21, approval was given for the transfer of effective control of Radio Côte-Nord Inc., through the transfer of 915 Class A voting shares and 1,415 Class B non-voting shares to Marcel Plamondon and the transfer of 1,005 Class A shares and 425 Class B shares to 101095 Canada Ltée, a company controlled by Marcel Plamondon. The transferred shares were held by several minority shareholders of the licensee company. The ownership structure of Radio Côte-Nord Inc. would now consist of 101095 Canada Ltée (49%), Marcel Plamondon (46.3%) and twelve other shareholders (4.7%). Control would now rest with Marcel Plamondon, a resident of Baie-Comeau.

1986
On January 27, the CRTC approved the application to amend the licence for CHLC by increasing the day-time power from 5,000 to 10,000 watts. The licensee indicated that this increase would improve service to Baie-Comeau and the surrounding area.

1987On May 19, CHLC and CFRP were given approval to disaffiliate from the Radiomutuel network. Newscasts other than those devoted to local or regional reports wouldl now originate with Broadcast News.

1988
Co-owned CKDO-FM commenced broadcasting on March 31.

On June 10, approval was granted for the transfer of effective control of Radio Côte-Nord Inc. (CHLC and CKDO-FM Baie-Comeau and of CFRP Forestville), through the transfer of 96.35% of the common voting shares from Marcel Plamondon to COGECO Inc. Mr. Plamondon decided to dispose of his broadcast undertaking because of serious illness in his family which required a lot of his time, and because there were no relatives who could take his place.

1991
Sister station CKDO-FM left the air.

1992The licence for CHLC (and CFRP) was renewed August 19. It was noted at this time that as a result of the amalgamation of radio and television operations which were wholly-owned subsidiaries of Cogeco Inc., Cogeco Radio-Télévision Inc. was now the licensee for CHLC and CFRP. The stations received approval to reduce the amount of locally-produced programming from 126 hours to 40 hours per broadcast week. CHLC and CFRP would affiliate with the new Cogeco Radio-Television Inc. network approved by the CRTC on August 6, and would broadcast 86 hours of programming originating from that network.

1993Cogeco received approval to move CHLC 580 to the FM band. The new station would broadcast on a frequency of 97.1 MHz and have an effective radiated power of 4,207 watts.

1996
CHLC’s converstion to the FM band took place.

Cogeco Radio-Télévision inc. sold CHLC to 9022-6242 Québec inc., which became
Radio Port-Cartier Inc.

2004On September 30, CHLC-FM was given approval to convert CFRP Forestville (CHLC re-broadcaster) to the FM band. The new transmitter would operate at 100.5 MHz with an average effective radiated power of 3,374 watts.

2010
On May 28, the CRTC renewed the licence of CHLC-FM (and its transmitter CFRP-FM Forestville) until August 31, 2016.

2012The CRTC approved the change in the effective control of 9022-6242 Québec inc. from a control exercised by Cécile Duchesneau to a control exercised by her spouse, Yvon Savoie. 9022-6242 Québec was the licensee of CHLC-FM Baie-Comeau.
Written by Bill Dulmage – Updated October, 2012